The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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3 The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

5 Jane Stranch

7 Employment issues of the time

8 Blind Akrawi

9 True - False

10 1.Fire drills were mandatory for buildings at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

11 False

12 2.Sprinkler systems were required in New York City Buildings at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

13 False

14 3. There were limitations on the number of building occupants in place in New York City at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

15 False

16 4. There were limits on the number of hours minors and women could work in New York City at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

17 False limited to 54 hours per week in 1912

18 5. S m o k i n g w a s allowed in factories and m a n u f a c t u r i n g establishments at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

19 True

20 6. Women could be forced to work immediately after child birth at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

21 True

22 7. Elevator shafts were required to be enclosed at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

23 False

24 8. Fire alarm systems were required in buildings at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

25 False

26 9. There was a mandatory minimum wage in place in New York City at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

27 False

28 Ben Bush

30 Sarah Jones

44 Blind Akrawi

47 Chris Fowler Social/Government Response

48 Recommendations of the New York State Factory Investigating Commission to Prevent/Diminish Fires Fireproof receptacles Protect gas jets Prohibit smoking Create means to notify fire department of fires Conduct fire drills Install automatic sprinklers

49 Factory Investigative Commission Reorganized and increased funding to the New York State Department of Labor 36 of the laws drafted by the commission were enacted by the state of New York

50 State Labor Laws New Safety & Fire Regulations Shorter Factory Hours Worker s Compensation Child Labor Laws Smoking Prohibited

51 The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Legislation and Investigation

52 Legislative reform The National Women s Trade Union League Citizen s Committee for Public Safety New York City Board of Alderman

53 New York Times Article - October 1st 1912

54 Creation of New York State Factory Investigating Commission Established on June 30th, 1911 in response to the fire. Given authority to investigate conditions in manufacturing establishments NY first state to authorize general investigation of conditions in manufacturing

55 Preliminary Report of New York State Factory Investigating Commission The Investigating Commission found 3 key causes for poor conditions in manufacturing establishments: Neglect of the human factor no provisions made for the workers in the establishments Ignorance of the number and location of industrial establishments no tracking or regulation of establishments Lack of standards no specifics on providing sufficient fire protection, proper light, adequate ventilation, fit toilet accommodations, etc.

56 Frances Perkins

57 105 years after the fire Issues facing us today Minimum Wage Working Conditions Maternity and Paternity Leave

58 Works Cited Linder, D. (2016, Februray 27th). Preliminary Report of the New York Factory Investigation Comission, Retrieved from law2.umkc.edu: law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects.ftrials/ triangle/trianglereport.html MacLaury, J. (2016, February 8). Women Working, ; Government Regulation of Workers' Safety and Health Retrieved February 8, 2016, from Harvard University Library Open Collections Program: New York (State) Factory Investigating Commission. (1915). Forth Report of the Factory Investigating Comission. Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, printers, 1915, 1:2-11. The Kheel Center, Cornell University. (2016, February 8th). The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire. Retrieved from United States Department of Labor. (2016, February 27th). About DOL History The New Yor Factory Investigating Commission. Retrieved from United States Department of Labor.Gov:

59 Roland Baggott

60 THE TRIAL

62 The Players LEAD PROSECUTOR: Charles F. Bostwick, Assistant District Attorney Former state assemblyman and professor of corporate law LEAD DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Max D. Steuer Jewish Immigrant from Austria-Hungary Worked in a garment sweatshop when he was a boy Received his law degree from Columbia University years old Part of Tammany Hall political machine

63 Indictment by Grand Jury of Isaac Harris and Max Blanck A mere 17 Days after the fire Seven counts of manslaughter in the first and second degree related to the death of employees Ultimately tried on the charges of manslaughter in the first and second degree related to the death of

64 Trial: Jury Selection Jury Selection Began December 4, 1911 Took two days to seat a jury All men, race and ethnicity unknown

65 Trial: Prosecution 103 witnesses, many of them young Triangle employees The 9 th Floor had two primary exits: Green Street and Washington Street Fire blocked the Green Street Exit The Washington Street exit door was locked, causing many to die

66 Trial: Defense Called 52 witnesses Prior inspections of the premises showed that the doors were unlocked Attacked credibility of a key witness, Kate Alterman, who was with Margaret Schwartz, one of the women who died, by asking her to tell the story of Ms. Schwartz death over and over. Her story was not the same each time, suggesting that she had been

67 Jury Charge: Manslaughter in First Degree Homicide (the killing of one human being by the act, procurement or omission of another) when committed without a design to effect death while committing a misdemeanor. Failure to comply with Section 80 of the NY Labor Law is a misdemeanor. Margaret Schwartz died upon a portion of the premises occupied by these defendants, from asphyxiation, which was produced by the smoke incident to the fire.

68 Jury Charge: Manslaughter in First Degree (continued) Not sufficient for the evidence to establish that the door was locked Rather, must find was it locked under circumstances importing knowledge on the part of the defendants that it was locked and that Margaret Schwartz died because she was unable to pass through i.e. would she have lived if the

69 Jury Charge: Manslaughter in the Second Degree Homicide without a design to effect death, by any act of culpable negligence of any person which, does not constitute the crime of murder in the first or second degrees, or manslaughter in the first degree. Culpable negligence is the unintentional failure to perform a duty implied by law whereby damage naturally and proximately results to another.

70 Jury Charge: Manslaughter in the Second Degree (continued) The duty is: such care as a man of ordinary prudence would use under similar circumstances. Jury must find that the defendants by some act or culpable negligence procured the killing of the deceased, not by ordinary negligence, but, in such extreme degree as the use of the term "culpable negligence imports

71 Jury Charge: Manslaughter in the Second Degree (continued) Must consider whether the death is due to direct result of the violation of the statute in determining the question of the presence or absence of negligence Were the defendants engaged at the time of the death in the violation of that provision of the Labor Law to which your attention has heretofore been directed in connection with the charge against

72 The Verdict: Not Guilty The jury, retired to deliberate at about 2:55 P.M., returned to the courtroom at 4:45 P. M., and rendered a verdict of not guilty. Less than two hours

73 Juror Statement Post-Trial: One juror, Victor Steinman was interviewed by a reporter from the New York Evening Mail said, "I felt sure that the door had been locked. I believed that piece of burned wood and the lock with the shot bolt. But then I believed also that the key was usually in the door and that it was tied to it with a piece of string. So the thought in my mind was that during the first rush for the door some girl might

74 Post Trial: Media Reaction New York Times for December 30, 1911: Whoever reads with care the charge of Justice Crain will not only understand why the jury in the Triangle fire case brought in the verdict it did, but will also see that it would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, for it to reach any other conclusion. What the verdict really means, as we understand it, is that the two men, Harris and Blanck, were not guilty as charged.

75 Second Trial: Fire Victim Jake Approximately three months later March 1912, Blanck and Harris were indicted again, for the manslaughter death of fire victim Jake Kline. Bostwick is prosecutor Different Judge: Judge Samuel Seabury Judge Seabury instructed the jury that the men were being "tried for the same offense, and under

76 Civil Claims Twenty-three individual civil suits were brought against Harris and Blanck in Harris and Blanck settle in March 1913, paying $75 per life lost. The reports were that the plaintiffs families were unable to pay for the litigation which was being defended by Harris and Blanck s insurance companies. Contingency fees in New York were prohibited by the

77 Wrongful Death

78 Eddie Davidson

1. Before the uprising the factory, labor, and community. In the late nineteenth century New York City emerged as the nation s center for

1. Before the uprising the factory, labor, and community In the late nineteenth century New York City emerged as the nation s center for garment-making, producing well over 60% of all the clothes manufactured